


The Air I Breathe

by orphan_account



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety Attacks, Anxiety Disorder, Cancer, Childhood Trauma, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Families of Choice, Family Dynamics, Flashbacks, Foster Care, Hearing Voices, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, IRL Fic, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Minor Character Death, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, It's Ranboo's Parents, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Mentions of Cancer, Overdose, Panic, Panic Attacks, Paranoia, Parent Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Protective Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Rain, Ranboo Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo Needs a Hug (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo hates the rain, Ranboo-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Recreational Drug Use, Self-Hatred, Technoblade is Bad at Feelings (Video Blogging RPF), Teleportation, Therapist Dream, Therapy, Trauma, Trust Issues, Wilbur Soot Lives, Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, dtao3, enderman speak, no festivals, no wars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:22:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28746126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Phil wasn't planning on taking another kid, but when he got the call that another teenage boy needed emergency placement, there was no way in hell that he'd say noOr,Ranboo wasn't supposed to end up like this, he was never meant to lose his mom to an incurable disease, or walk in on his dad overdosing. He was never meant to end up in foster care, yet here he was on Phil's couch as three other teenagers tried to relate with him, and he couldn't even bring himself to meet there eyes.
Relationships: Ranboo & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Wilbur Soot, Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit & Technoblade, Wilbur Soot & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Comments: 33
Kudos: 843





	The Air I Breathe

Phil quietly toed around the kitchen with only the fresh morning light streaming from between the white, wispy clouds, to keep him company- it was early, early enough that he didn't want to wake his boys yet. They all deserved a moment of rest and Phil deserved to soak up this rare moment of solitude. It wasn't that he didn't love his kids, or that he found them annoying, or that he didn't appreciate them, but he had to admit that taking care of three teenage boys, all riddled with their own unique trauma, could be a bit of a challenge sometimes. He leaned back in his dining chair, holding a warm cup of coffee and listened to the soft crackling of the fireplace that crackled in the living room. Techno would probably be down soon, he’d say good morning, grab himself a bowl of cereal, then retreat back to his room. 

Techno had always been pretty reclusive, opting to occupy himself rather than spend his time with company. Phil knew how physically and emotionally drained the boy got when forced to interact with people, so he was fine with Techno’s habit of keeping to himself, even if it did somehow rub off and make him closed off in more ways than one. Techno’s past home life hadn’t been the best and he was most certainly not dealt the best hand of cards. His birth family had been too involved in the drug scene to properly care for a little boy, but they luckily had enough sense in him to anonymously drop him off outside of a nearby church. Techno had never known his real parents, and he honestly didn’t care if he ever would. The church gave Techno to the Foster system after it was confirmed that he was okay, he then bounced around every year or two from foster home to foster home, finally settling down at the age of 14 with Phil. 

One of the biggest reasons why people foster is because they have some kind of hero complex. They want to be the savior of every story, they want to be known as the one who changed and fixed these broken children and they want endless amounts of praise for it, that was something Techno definitely experienced, but Phil was different. He wanted to help the boy, of course, but he never wanted to change him. He was patient with Techno, letting him take all the time he needed to get comfortable. He was quick to pick up Techno’s little quirks and tried his best to understand everything, he’d let Techno eat in the kitchen alone or even make his own dinner since Techno was very possessive and territorial over his food, it was something they’d work on in the future, but for now, nobody was being harmed by it. Phil realized Techno was a very anxious boy, he noticed most of his anxiety manifested as anger seeing as having to look tough in some of his older foster homes was one of the only things keeping him from becoming, for lack of a better term, roadkill. 

Phil congratulated him on small victories like eating three meals a day, letting Phil cook, falling asleep before the sun rose, or even putting his own input on situations. Techno started his journey with Phil only diagnosed with anxiety and selective mutism, so when he finally started interesting himself in conversations with Phil and having input on situations or ideas/plans Phil had, it was not only a huge relief but also a huge step of progress. Things really only went up from there, until Phil got another call.

It was a call from the same social worker who had worked with Techno, she had another teenage boy, 13 years old, who she thought would be a good fit for Phil’s home and care. His parents had been convicted of child abuse, his father had a severe alcohol addiction, he’d only been to one other foster home and was sent back because he had an outburst and scared the family’s biological child. His name was Wilbur. Phil took him in without a second thought, but he did have to admit, he was a little nervous about how Wilbur and Techno would get along, it had only been 8 months since Techno had moved in with him and only 1 since he’d been legally adopted, and Phil was really worried this would make Techno takes steps backward, but when he sat him down and told him about the incoming addition to the family, Techno was more than ready to become an older brother. He instantly tried to make Wilbur as comfortable as possible and shared his own experiences with Wilbur so he’d know he wasn’t alone and tried to convince him that no matter what experiences with people he’s had in the past, Phil was a good guy and he was only here to help and love, and Wilbur believed him. 

Wilbur wasn’t very reserved, he did keep some of the more intense and raw emotions to himself, but other than that he was an open book. He trusted almost  _ too _ easily. 

A few years went by, Techno had now turned 17 and Wilbur was 15 about to turn 16 in up and coming week, when Phil received another call. There was a 13 year old boy who’d been basically kicked out of every home he’d been placed in. He was labeled as a problem child and was passed around like a broken toy that nobody really cared for enough to fix. His name was Thomas, but Phil quickly learned he preferred to be called Tommy. Phil took him in and noticed that he was  _ loud _ . Out of all of his boys, Tommy was the most… expressive? At least, that’s what Tommy wanted you to think. On the outside, you’d see a boy with an obnoxious laugh. He had enough energy to run three full marathons and probably have some still left over. He made friends easily in the neighborhood and wanted to go to school in-person, unlike Wilbur and Techno. He was social and happy and energetic, but that’s what his front was. Phil realized quickly that Tommy was a ticking time bomb. He’d bottle up every emotion until he’d break, and when Tommy broke, he broke  _ hard.  _ One of the first times Phil can remember this happening was when Tommy accidentally dropped his plate during dinner, he stared down at the mess for a few seconds before balling his fists and letting out a scream. Tears poured down his cheeks and his body shook as he hyperventilated. He curled his fingers into his hair and pulled so hard Phil was surprised chunks of curly blonde locks didn’t come out. Techno had to help Phil pry Tommy’s hands away from his head. He held the boy as his screams died down into sobs and eventually when he calmed the boy down enough, Tommy sat back, pushed Phil away from him and hid in his room. Nobody saw Tommy for about two days before he came down one morning for breakfast acting as if nothing happened. That was when they decided to start Tommy in therapy just like his other brothers. 

It’s been two years since then, Phil had asked to remove his name from the contact list at the social work agency unless there was an absolute emergency and it’d been radio silence since, 

Until it wasn’t,

Phil sat with his coffee, as he heard the soft patter of feet coming down the stared, a pink haired, sleepy teen appeared in the doorway, stumbling around in the low lightly without his glasses, 

Phil tsked at the sight, “I know you don’t like wearing contacts, but you should at least be wearing your glasses. You’re gonna get yourself hurt one of these days.” He said lightly, 

“Food now, sight later.” Techno huffed in response, Phil only sighed teasingly. 

As Techno turned to make his way out of the kitchen with his now gathered breakfast, Phil’s phone started ringing. He furrowed his eyebrows, who could be calling at such an early hour? Even Techno stopped and watched out of curiosity,

Phil picked up the phone, 

“Hello?” He started, 

_ “Hello, is this Phil Watson?”  _ A woman’s voice on the other end of the line asked,

“Yes, it is, may I ask who’s calling?” Phil questioned,

_ “Oh, Of course! My apologies in advance for calling so early into the morning, first off. This is Miss Janice Jones, I’m the previous social worker for your three boys, I know you requested for your number to be off the call list but this situation truly counts as an emergency.”  _

Phil waited for her to continue, 

_ “We’ve recently been placed on a case of a teenage boy, he’s 16. His mother passed away about a year ago due to cancer and he walked in on his father overdosing last night. With no living relatives, he is obviously going to go into the system, but the group home we were going to temporarily place him in has no room for him.” _

Phil sighed, there was no way he was going to say no. He’d have to clean out the guest bedroom.

“When do you need me to get him?” Phil asked, he saw Techno’s brow quirk in interest, but only held up a finger signifying for him to wait, 

_ "As soon as possibly, we can keep him here at the office until closing, which is 9 o’clock, but after that he has to go into police custody until morning and since it’s been less than 24 hours since he watched his father pass away, we’re really trying to limit the amount of possibly traumatizing experiences he’s exposed to,”  _ She explained, 

“I can be there in an hour.” and with confirmation, he hung up, running a hand over his face. So much for his peaceful morning. 

“So… what was that about?” Techno questioned, 

“Go get dressed and wake your brothers up, we’re getting a new kid in the family.”


End file.
